This page is an annotated response to Laurie
Anderson's early 80's alternative hit, O Superman, which Laurie has said was written in the context of the
Iran/contra scandal. Laurie Anderson is a New York performance
artist, the wife of Lou Reed. For some reason, O Superman
resonnated in my mind when the Iraqi situation reached a climax in
early March 2003 (even though I'd not listened to it for more than
a decade). I googled for internet sites that could shed some light
on why it might have struck such a resonance. I found
Jim Davies site (a more comprehensive catalogue of Laurie's
work, with annotations of many of her works). Jim's site inspired
me to try my hand at annotating its meaning for me...

Introduces the 3 central actors in the ballad: force (superman),
justice (judge), love (mom and dad). Justice is the meat in a
sandwich of two very american images. Superman - the "good" force.
Mom and Dad - American as apple pie ? Repeated for emphasis.

Hi. I'm not home right now. But if you want to
leave a message,

Just start talking at the sound of the tone.

Robotic answering machine message expresses the idea that love
is gone - the receiver of the call is gone - supplanted by
technology. The narrator in fact is at home (as later
revealed)...

Hello? This is your Mother. Are you there? Are
you coming home?

But the narrator doesn't want to talk to Mom. is love really
gone ? there is a significant pause after here that leads me to
think there is a change of character speaking... it's the next
message on the machine...

Hello, is anybody home ?

Well, you don't know me, but I know you.

pretty scary and not exactly what a mother would say.

Once or twice in my life people have come up to me with this
"you don't know me..." line, and the asymmetry in knowledge makes
me extremely uncomfortable. The person saying it perhaps hopes it
will help you trust what they are saying or engage with their
conversation, but its effect on me at least is the opposite. A
judge's job is to know lots about the accused (i.e. his guilt), but
the accused learns little about the judge in court; is this a judge
speaking ?

And I've got a message to give to you.

Here come the planes.

So you better get ready. Ready to go.

creates an image of impending doom. B52's laden with bombs.
There's urgency - ready repeated for emphasis. Anderson's voice
seems menacing, but for all the evidence available so far, this
could be an invite to a wonderful jetsetting holiday (although you
don't need planes, plural, for this - one will do)...

You can come as you are, but pay as you go. Pay
as you go.

the caller knows committment is not your strong suit - hence the
enticement "pay as you go". Makes it like the caller is selling
something attractive. The enticement keeps the listener's attention
too... There's a pause while the caller waits for a response... the
speaker was home, screening calls and responds:

And I said: OK. Who is this really? And the
voice said:

This is the hand, the hand that takes. This is
the hand, the hand that takes.

This is the hand, the hand that takes. Here come
the planes.

The narrator asks the question in all our minds. The "hand that
takes" is the hand of death. These are planes of death, not the
holidaying kind.

They're American planes. Made in America

American means super-power. A symbol of Force ? Superman.

Smoking or non-smoking?

Mocks the threat, conveys cold efficiency of the airline
check-in counter or restaurant greeter. But does the choice matter
when the hand that takes has planes approaching you ?

And the voice said: Neither snow nor rain nor
gloom of night

shall stay these couriers from the swift
completion of their appointed rounds.

a reference to the US postal service (I've got a vague childhood
recollection of a cartoon that used this line - was it Rocky and
Bullwinkle ?). Portrays determined efficiency. The planes are
coming, and nothing will stop their bombs. On 17th March 2003,
listening to ex-military consultants talk clinically about the
improvements in laser guided weapons since 1991 hooked right into
this line. In 1991, rain and gloom of night did slow this, in 2003
we are told it won't.

In any event, you choices don't matter much when it gets to this
end-game. The force is overwhelming.

'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice.

And when justice is gone, there's always force.

And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!

Jim Davies suggests this draws an analogy with childhood
disputes. The appeal to play fair, then when that doesn't work,
someone gets thumped. And when that doesn't work, the aggrieved run
home to get Mom's help.

So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.

So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.

In your automatic arms. Your electronic arms.

In your arms.

So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.

Your petrochemical arms. Your military arms.

In your electronic arms.

Are the "long arms" the reach of the planes, "hold me" a plea
for protection ? long arms suggest a distance, "electronic" and
"automatic" suggest detachment from human action. Is the speaker
seeking refuge in a technological mom substitute (electronic arms,
military arms) - not a real one ? Petrochemical arms is maybe a
connection with the Iran/Contra situation (which Anderson says this
was a response to). Or maybe it's just another example of a
technological force (petrochemicals) that pervade and support a
world that allows us to gradually separate ourselves from our love,
then our justice. Anderson might be suggesting we seek solutions in
the wrong place.

O Superman

by Laurie Anderson, Big Science, 1981.

O Superman. O judge. O Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad.
O Superman. O judge. O Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad.
Hi. I'm not home right now. But if you want to leave a
message, just start talking at the sound of the tone.
Hello? This is your Mother. Are you there? Are you
coming home?
Hello? Is anybody home? Well, you don't know me,
but I know you.
And I've got a message to give to you.
Here come the planes.
So you better get ready. Ready to go. You can come
as you are, but pay as you go. Pay as you go.

And I said: OK. Who is this really? And the voice said:
This is the hand, the hand that takes. This is the
hand, the hand that takes.
This is the hand, the hand that takes.
Here come the planes.
They're American planes. Made in America.
Smoking or non-smoking?
And the voice said: Neither snow nor rain nor gloom
of night shall stay these couriers from the swift
completion of their appointed rounds.

'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice.
And when justive is gone, there's always force.
And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!

There's a great interview with Anderson in the
Bulletin magazine for Jan 22nd, 2003, where she spoke of its
refrain, "here come the planes", taking on an eerie new meaning
post-September 11. "I wrote O Superman during the Iran/Contra
scandal," she said. "Americans have short memories. They don't
realise that this is the same war that's been going on for 20
years."

Anderson, who's touring Australia next month, performed in New
York a week after September 11, and referred to the horror as an
'opportunity'.

"I thought about that word a lot. I really believe that when
something big happens, whether it seems good or seems bad, it's a
chance to jump out of your preconceptions. I was very disappointed
that there was no dialogue in the year since then. I suppose
instead of opportunity the word would be security because we're now
just too afraid - or too lazy. These pools of freedom and fear are
really interesting ones. It's a brand new question, what is it to
be free and also afraid?"

"And what is it about justice that causes
both sides to call on gods to justify their wars?"

As discussed in the Wikipaedia article on
O Superman
some critics question Laurie's claim about the Iran-Contra connection.
The song was released in 1981 and the first public reporting of the
weapons-for-hostages deal happened in the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa
on November 3, 1986. It is also possible that Anderson simply used
the wrong term for the original Iran hostage crisis which took place
in 1979-1980, a time frame which does more closely fit Anderson's description.